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Cleveland Black Driver Review

SuperStroke
A few thoughts on this since I've swapped shafts and cut it down to 44.5"

-I've actually gained swing speed since my testing was done - 2 whole mph. That's not really related to the driver. I've been working on it.
-Spin numbers remain surprisingly low. Certainly lower now with the shaft change. The other night I averaged out around 2k and the last time out it was generally lower than that. I am a low spin player to begin with.
-If we are talking optimal-optimal I could probably use a couple degrees of loft, but it's a playable ball flight.
-Carry distance is ok, but total distance is very good thanks to that low spin and flat landing angle. That works for playing golf around here.
-My ability to control the ball has improved, as has my frequency of center contact.
 
this thing is gaining my interest.
 
Had first short range session today with the new Black driver. It feels much the same as my current Black in terms of weight. All but a couple shots showed impact in the center of the clubface. Ball flight nearly identical. My current Black with Miyasaki regular shaft results in draws 90% of the time. New Black was mostly straight with a few pushed right and did not draw back. Not sure of distance comparison yet. Need to find somewhere to hit both and measure. For the record, 83mph swing speed, slow tempo player. Not seeing any major improvement so far. Might be up for sale soon.
 
tucsondivots said:
Had first short range session today with the new Black driver. It feels much the same as my current Black in terms of weight. All but a couple shots showed impact in the center of the clubface. Ball flight nearly identical. My current Black with Miyasaki regular shaft results in draws 90% of the time. New Black was mostly straight with a few pushed right and did not draw back. Not sure of distance comparison yet. Need to find somewhere to hit both and measure. For the record, 83mph swing speed, slow tempo player. Not seeing any major improvement so far. Might be up for sale soon.
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Numbers will be crucial for you here. If you are seeing a severe spin decrease, upping the loft on the driver will produce more distance.
 
JB said:
Numbers will be crucial for you here. If you are seeing a severe spin decrease, upping the loft on the driver will produce more distance.
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Have the 12 degree loft in both old and new. Pretty much the same mid to high trajectory with both (have not been on monitor to evaluate). Older version with CKua shaft gives me repeatable draw that I am not seeing with the new Black yet. I need to get on a monitor to get some numbers. It is really nice looking and I like the sound and feel.
 
Had a chance to take a few swings outdoors with the CG Black at the local shop. When I'm striking the ball well, spin tends to be low, and they only had a demo club in 9 degrees (they had just got the new stuff from Cleveland and Srixon). I'd like the chance to take some swings with a bit higher loft, and with the shaft a bit shorter. I was catching the ball on the toe, and just hitting some low flying duck hooks. I brought my driver (10.5 degree Big Bertha, 45") for comparison, and I was getting my usual ball flight. So while I don't have a ton to say about performance I will say that while the shaft is light, it does feel stable through the swing. I think the combination of lightweight and low spin could be absolutely killer with a proper fitting.
 
I always like a few session before I make any decisions and am still waiting on a chance to get this outside (post shaft change). Hoping I can arrange that on Sunday.

Anyway, three indoor sessions have me leaning towards this being a little too low launching and spinning at 9° with the Fuel at 44.5. Didn't predict that at all. Launch is a pretty consistent 15° and spin ranges from 1500-2000 rpms on my 'normal' swings. Just playing with the numbers in the trajectory optimizer, I would see pretty big improvments with a couple degrees more launch and spin numbers around 2500.

My swing speed is good, but with the launch numbers I'm seeing I'm just giving up yards. I have suspicion that a 12° head with this shaft setup would be pretty damn good, but that's not happening.

Either way - stock setup may not be ideal for everybody, but I see a lot of things that really surprise me with this head.
 
I actually really want to try this one in a 12* head. 10.5 in my tests showed decent numbers, but with where I play and the flight I like, I prefer high. Although it is hard to argue with 15.8 and 2400 RPMs for my game.
 
JB said:
I actually really want to try this one in a 12* head. 10.5 in my tests showed decent numbers, but with where I play and the flight I like, I prefer high. Although it is hard to argue with 15.8 and 2400 RPMs for my game.
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You and me both, the 12* for me and a little bit of the gains you guys are seeing would be pretty nice
 
JB said:
I actually really want to try this one in a 12* head. 10.5 in my tests showed decent numbers, but with where I play and the flight I like, I prefer high. Although it is hard to argue with 15.8 and 2400 RPMs for my game.
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Yea that's not bad at all. If I could be consistently in that 2400 range I'd be in good shape.
 
some interesting numbers. if i remember correctly on GC2 my g25 w/whiteboard 72 i was getting in the 1800-2200 range with around 13/14* launch with carry in the 250ish range. I don't recall ball speed(i think it was in the low 150s).

What are your guys swing speed and distances with this driver.

Edit: I love the ball flight i get with my g25...not to high and not to low. i get some pretty good total distance.
 
emart2173 said:
some interesting numbers. if i remember correctly on GC2 my g25 w/whiteboard 72 i was getting in the 1800-2200 range with around 13/14* launch with carry in the 250ish range. I don't recall ball speed(i think it was in the low 150s).

What are your guys swing speed and distances with this driver.
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The GC2 I use does not measure swing speed, so I cant help you there.
 
emart2173 said:
some interesting numbers. if i remember correctly on GC2 my g25 w/whiteboard 72 i was getting in the 1800-2200 range with around 13/14* launch with carry in the 250ish range. I don't recall ball speed(i think it was in the low 150s).

What are your guys swing speed and distances with this driver.
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Swing speed last night was 94-96mph. I was lucky to get 230 with roll.
 
Hawk said:
Swing speed last night was 94-96mph. I was lucky to get 230 with roll.
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thanks...it does make sense for you wanting to get a little more spin and launch. when the rep here told me it was designed for slower swing speeds i kind of blew this driver off the ponder list, but i might swing it to see what it can do. My swing speed is around 102 consistently sometimes a little more.
 
This head in 9* sounds like it could be some serious fun. If someone changed the shaft to a low 60g and x-stiff would that completely go against the design of the club?

What is gear effect?
 
Im hoping some people pick this up in the 12* so that I can live vicariously through them
 
Scrap Iron said:
This head in 9* sounds like it could be some serious fun. If someone changed the shaft to a low 60g and x-stiff would that completely go against the design of the club?

What is gear effect?
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Well it would go against the original stock design's intent, but I don't think that matters. The light weight on the head does present some issues with balance and swing weighting that have to be dealt with if you choose to go shorter for sure.

I'm going to get real general on your second question.

Gear effect is a term people use when they are talking about how the curvature of the face alters the way the ball spins on off-center shots. Drivers are built with curvature from heel to toe and sole to crown (bulge and roll). This enables them to produce more optimal launch conditions when you miss. It's something that can throw people off, but the idea is to actually reduce to the ill-effects of those misses.

Example (and take things like a big OTT swing out of the equation).

A toe miss with a driver is going to have a tendency to want to hook. With face curvature, that can be lessened a bit and the ball with want to start to the right, coming back to center.
Opposite is often true with a low heel miss for example.

Gear+Effect.jpg


bulge.jpg
 
Excellent review JB. Might have to replace the draw biased Ping soon.
 
Thanks Hawk. Appreciate how you guys answer my questions.

I really want to try this it sounds like a complete sleeper.
 
Hitting this club today in Tampa.. Normal gamer is bio cell
 
REALLY liking this club.. It's at 10.5 and I hit it quite high!!
 
Nice dude, this one is crazy intriguing still to me
 
A bonded driver. Does Cleveland do this routinely with a portion of their lines, and do other companies do as well? With the fact that most people "set it and forget it" will we see companies move back into bonded drivers for at least a portion of their customers?
 
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